Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) switching for multi-host computing system deployments

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10599600-B2
Application number	US-201715624937-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 16, 2017
Priority date	Jun 16, 2017
Publication date	Mar 24, 2020
Grant date	Mar 24, 2020

Abstract

Described herein are enhancements for deploying a Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) switch in a computing enclosure. In one implementation, a PCIe switch is coupled to a plurality of hosts and at least one network interface via PCIe lanes. The PCIe switch is configured to exchange communications between the plurality of hosts and the one or more physical network interfaces and emulate, to each host of the plurality of hosts, a physical network interface. The PCIe switch is further configured to receive a communication from a first host of the plurality of hosts directed at a second host in the plurality of hosts using an emulated physical network interface for the first host, and transfer the communication to the second host as though the communication were received at an emulated physical network interface for the second host.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computing system comprising:
a plurality of hosts;
a network interface;
a Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) switch communicatively coupled to each of the plurality of hosts and to the network interface, wherein the PCIe switch:
exchanges communication between the plurality of hosts and the network interface, and between the plurality of hosts;
emulates, to each of the plurality of hosts, a virtual network interface;
receives a communication from a first host of the plurality of hosts at the virtual network interface of the first host, wherein the communication is directed to a second host of the plurality of hosts; and
forwards the communication received at the virtual network interface of the first host to the second host as if the communication was received at the virtual network interface of the second host.

2. The computing system of claim 1 , further comprising one or more PCIe devices communicatively coupled to the PCIe switch, wherein the PCIe switch exchanges communications between the plurality of hosts and the one or more PCIe devices.

3. The computing system of claim 2 , wherein the one or more PCIe devices comprise one or more data storage devices.

4. The computing system of claim 2 , wherein the one or more PCIe devices comprise one or more Non-Volatile Memory express (NVMe) devices.

5. The computing system of claim 2 , wherein the one or more PCIe devices comprise one or more graphics cards.

6. The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the network interface comprises an Ethernet interface.

7. The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of hosts, the network interface, and the PCIe switch are part of a first computing enclosure, and wherein the network interface is communicatively coupled to a second network interface of a second computing enclosure comprising a second plurality of hosts communicatively coupled to a second PCIe switch.

8. The computing system of claim 7 , wherein the PCIe switch and the second PCIe switch facilitate communication between the plurality of hosts of the first computing enclosure and the second plurality of hosts of the second computing enclosure by:
receiving at the PCIe switch a second communication from the first host to be directed to a third host of the second plurality of hosts;
transfer by the PCIe switch the second communication to the second PCIe switch via the network interface of the first computing enclosure and the second network interface of the second computing enclosure; and
transfer the second communication by the second PCIe switch from the second network interface to the third host.

9. The computing system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the plurality of hosts is configured to maintain a distributed file system.

10. The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the virtual network interface is an ethernet interface.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable media comprising computer-readable instructions which when executed by a processing system of a Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) switch communicatively coupled to a plurality of hosts and a network interface to facilitate communication between the plurality of hosts, and between the plurality of hosts and the network interface, causes the processing system to:
emulate, to each of the plurality of hosts, a virtual network interface;
receive a communication from a first host of the plurality of hosts at the virtual network interface of the first host, wherein the communication is directed to a second host of the plurality of hosts; and
forward the communication received at the virtual network interface of the first host to the second host as if the communication was received at the virtual network interface of the second host.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 11 , wherein the PCIe switch is further communicatively coupled to one or more PCIe devices, and wherein the processing system comprises computer-readable instructions to exchange communications between the plurality of hosts and the one or more PCIe devices.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 12 , wherein the one or more PCIe devices comprise one or more data storage devices.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 12 , wherein the one or more PCIe devices comprise one or more Non-Volatile Memory express (NVMe) devices.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 12 , wherein the one or more PCIe devices comprise one or more graphics cards.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 12 , wherein the network interface comprises an Ethernet interface.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 11 , wherein the PCIe switch, the plurality of hosts, and the network interface are packaged in a rackmount enclosure, wherein the network interface is communicatively coupled to a second computing enclosure, and wherein the second computing enclosure comprises a second plurality of hosts communicatively coupled to a second PCIe switch.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of hosts each comprise a storage system and a processing system.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of hosts is configured to maintain a distributed file system.

20. A Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) switch configured to be communicatively coupled to a plurality of hosts, the PCIe switch comprising:
a processing system;
a memory storing computer-readable instructions and operatively coupled to the processing system, the computer-readable instructions when executed by the processing system cause the processing system to:
emulate, to each of the plurality of hosts, a virtual network interface;
receive a communication from a first host of the plurality of hosts at the virtual network interface of the first host, wherein the communication is directed to a second host of the plurality of hosts; and
forward the communication received at the virtual network interface of the first host to the second host as if the communication was received at the virtual network interface of the second host.

Assignees

• Western Digital Tech Inc

Inventors

• Risinger James
• Larson Nils E
• Lee Eric C

Classifications

• G06F13/4282

  on a serial bus, e.g. I2C bus, SPI bus (on daisy chain buses G06F13/4247) · CPC title

• G06F13/4022 Primary

  using switching circuits, e.g. switching matrix, connection or expansion network (G06F13/4009 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G06F13/105

  where the program performs an input/output emulation function · CPC title

• G06F2213/0026

  PCI express · CPC title

• G06F13/4295

  using an embedded synchronisation · CPC title